1.
THE NEWSROOM: A
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
CONTENT ENGINE
WEBINAR
30.06.2016

2.
WHERE WE GOT OUR CLIENTS PUBLISHED WITH GUEST CONTENT:

3.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

4.
Content is a proven way to:
• Increase reputation
• Generate leads
• Drive sales
• Build organizational knowledge
• Establish leaders as visionaries
• Increase influence for the organization among key stakeholders
WHY THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

5.
CHALLENGES AND CONSTRAINTS

6.
Challenges & constraints:
• Time
• C-level & experts have very little time, and writing well takes time
• A long turnaround time increases danger of external events changing – meaning
your content becomes obsolete
• When you start a piece of content, aim for a 3 – 4 week turnaround time max
• Political capital
• When you start, it’s a new, unproven process
• You need to show result and success as fast as possible to build confidence
CHALLENGES AND CONSTRAINTS

7.
THE BLUEPRINT

8.
This process was built and refined over the years to assure:
• Smooth handovers
• Clear long and short term goals, to do’s, no dropped balls
• Lean work: work flows in one direction only (no rework!)
• Total production time of 10 – 15 hours for 800 – 1300 word blog (excl pitching)
• Turnaround time 3 to 4 weeks

9.
THE PLAYERS
(Ghost)writer
Storytelling
CEO or expert
Vision & leadership
Corporate communication
Strategy & message

10.
MONITORING THE LANDSCAPE
PHASE 0

11.
Who?
What?
• Start following the news in your industry and beyond.
Why?
• If you want to become a thought leader – or create one in your organization – you
need to know what’s going on.
• What’s hot, what’s not?
• Who’s new?
• And so on.
MONITORING THE LANDSCAPE

12.
SOURCES > PEARLTREES

13.
FEEDLY.COM
 PEARLTREES.COM
SOURCES > PEARLTREES

14.
The best writing offers opinion, but is fact based. Your facts are only as good as
your sources.
Create a feed of sources and keep track of the best source material in Pearltrees:
• Thematic & contextual
• Versatile
• Searchable
MONITORING & BOOKMARKING

15.
In industries with a lack of ‘hard news’:
• HR
• Communication
• Design
• Finance
• Consulting
• …
It might be better to search Google Scholar for recent, surprising research.
GOOGLE SCHOLAR

16.
THE NEWSROOM MEETING
PHASE I

17.
Who?
What?
• 30 minute meeting
Why?
• To ideate 1 viable idea
NEWSROOM MEETING

18.
• What’s new in your industry?
• What are some questions that stakeholders have asked you lately?
• Which phenomena (even if marginal today) have the power to change your
industry in 10, 20 or 30 years?
• What are some things that you believe or know about your industry that very
few people know or believe?
• Are some phenomena that people in your industry misinterpret today?
QUESTIONS TO ASK

19.
A headline
• “Here’s what everyone has wrong about Tesla”
Key insights & points you want to make
• “Tesla doesn’t want to be a car maker, it wants to become a market leader in
energy storage”
A gold medal media outlet
• “It will be perfect for Quartz”
OBJECTIVES:

20.
NEWSROOM RULES

21.
ONE EXPERT
NEWSROOM RULES

22.
• Multiple experts in the newsroom meeting will derail your meeting.
• No “exits” for your expert: maximum social pressure.
• If expert or CEO thinks they can get out from under their homework, they will try to
get out from under it – and blame you for not delivering thought leadership.
• Take away this false security
REASONS FOR THE “ONE EXPERT” RULE

23.
NEWSROOM RULES

24.
ONE SUBJECT!
NEWSROOM RULES

25.
1. “Cheerleader effect” for ideas
• You’ll feel good about having a list of ideas, but they will be weak
2. Cumulative flow: ‘Little’s Law’ (cumulative flow)
• It takes 3 weeks to finish 1 piece of content
• It takes 10 weeks to finish 2 pieces of content
• It takes 20 weeks to finish 3 pieces of content
3. Multiple subjects bleed into each other during research & writing
4. Multiple subjects offer an ‘exit’ for your CEO or expert
• Maximum social pressure
REMEMBER THE TICKING CLOCK!

26.
VALIDATION PHASE
PHASE II

27.
Who?
What?
• A stress test for your idea
Why?
• Because of the “ridicule factor”
NEWSROOM MEETING

28.
STRESS TEST YOUR IDEAS

29.
• Find supporting facts & proof points for your idea
• Look for facts & proof points that disprove your hypothesis
• “You shouldn’t fact check a good story to death”
• True, but the idea should be somewhat healthy to begin with
• Check the requirements of the media outlet you want to pitch
• “How to be a guest writer on 11 popular sites”
• Did the outlet already write this story?
• (It’s more common than you think)
STRESS TESTING YOUR IDEAS

30.
PUT ALL YOUR FACTS IN A MIND MAP

31.
MINDMEISTER.COM
PUT ALL YOUR FACTS IN A MIND MAP

32.
OUTLINE
PHASE III

33.
Who?
What?
• A skeleton of your story
Why?
• Because you’re not ready to waste time on writing
NEWSROOM MEETING

34.
DO YOU THINK THIS LOOK COMPLICATED?

35.
THEN WHAT ABOUT THIS?

36.
THE LONDON TUBE - CROWDSOURCED

37.
LONDON TUBE - OUTLINED

38.
1. Information
2. Structure
3. Words & phrases
AVOID REWRITES AND FRUSTRATION
1. Information
2. Structure

39.
Presenting a CEO or expert with 3 layers of information will overwhelm them.
People who are not used to writing will:
1. Get emotional (panic, anger, frustration)
2. Start rewriting
3. Create a mess
4. Drop the ball
5. And more bad outcomes
Outlines prevent this. It’s clearly recognizable as “work in progress” and is less
threatening.
WHY?

40.
• 7 to 12 bullet points for 1000 words
• Be precise
• “I will talk about the importance of backlinks for SEO”
• “SEO depends 47 % on backlinks and 15 % on social signal”

41.
MAXIMIZE THE STORYTELLING

42.
GREAT CONTENT HAS A CLEAR GOAL – THE
SUMMIT. BUT IT OFFERS TWISTS, TURNS AND
SURPRISES ON THE WAY TO THE TOP.
MORE HERE.
MAXIMIZE THE STORYTELLING

43.
BEWARE OF THE SPEEDY APPROVAL

44.
SPEEDY APPROVAL OF YOUR OUTLINE =
“I DIDN’T REALLY LOOK AT IT AND I WILL
REWRITE YOUR DRAFT INSTEAD”
BEWARE OF THE SPEEDY APPROVAL

45.
Not really, but almost. Your work is 99 % done.

46.
DRAFT 1
PHASE IV

47.
Who?
What?
• A finished piece of text

48.
YOU’RE AIMING FOR THIS:

49.
NO DETOURS
YOU’RE AIMING FOR THIS:

50.
• 700 – 1300 words
• Now, spend time on phrasing and wording (not too much though)
• Find a good introduction to grab the reader’s attention
• Find a good “sendoff”
• Check headline: does it still fit?
• Do you need to add a “curiosity gap”? (Don’t overdo it)
Because all facts are checked and storyline is approved, writing should take 1 to
2 hours max for an experienced writer (if they were involved in earlier process –
otherwise 3 to 4 probably).
THE FIRST DRAFT

51.
FINAL DRAFT
PHASE V

52.
• After feedback from CEO or expert: implement comments. Should take no
more than 1 hour.
• Polish the text a bit.
• Proofreader (optional)
• Send to graphic designer or art director (illustrations & photo)
• And then:

53.
YOU ARE NOW READY TO PITCH (MORE ON THAT LATER)

54.
Feel free to tweet remarks to:
• @rafweverbergh, @FINNbe or @kris10vermoesen
Also, we’re HIRING: http://finnpr.com/about-us/are-you-interested-working-finn
• Entry level PR
• (Junior/Medior) Account Manager PR/PA
Also, check out our all new version of Mustr, the easiest way to do stakeholder
and influencer management: http://getmustr.com
THANK YOU!